Bon Iver playing Summerfest; no word on Eaux Claires festival
One of the biggest bands to come out of Wisconsin is playing Wisconsin’s (and the world’s) largest music festival for the first time.
Bon Iver will make its Summerfest debut as a headliner at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater June 29. Folk act Lord Huron and acclaimed up-and-coming singer-songwriter Julien Baker will open the show.
Led by Eau Claire native Justin Vernon, Bon Iver broke out in 2007 with “For Emma, Forever Ago,” guided by Vernon’s aching heartache and falsetto. The album was revisited at a special concert at the BMO Harris Bradley Center this past February, the band’s most recent Milwaukee appearance.
“Emma” changed Vernon’s life. He won two Grammys following the release of 2011’s “Bon Iver, Bon Iver;” has recorded with Kanye West and several other artists, including several from Wisconsin; and launched the Eaux Claires boutique festival in his hometown in 2015. The latest Bon Iver album, 2016’s “22, A Million,” was nominated for two Grammys.
Bon Iver’s Summerfest show will be the band’s only Wisconsin concert of the summer, according to Big Gig officials.
That statement, no doubt, will create speculation, and perhaps concern, from Eaux Claires fans, who still haven’t heard if there’ll be a fifth installment this summer.
Vernon has performed at every Eaux Claires, but his last set there with Bon Iver was in 2016, so it’s possible the festival is still happening but Bon Iver isn’t performing.
But in the past few years, the dates for the festival were released the previous fall, and there’s still no news about a potential 2019 edition on the festival’s website or social media accounts.
Last year, Eaux Claires received some backlash, and saw smaller attendance, following its “secret lineup” approach. The bill was announced the morning of the festival’s first day, but the lineup featured multiple acts that had already played Eaux Claires before, and didn’t include the kind of bigger gets from previous years like Paul Simon or Chance the Rapper.
Tickets for Bon Iver’s Summerfest appearance are available beginning at 11 a.m. Dec. 14 at the box office (200 N. Harbor Drive); by calling (800) 7453000 or (866) 448-7849; or visiting
ticketmaster.com. Presales will begin at 10 a.m. Dec. 12; fans can sign up at
boniver.org/me. Ticket prices have yet to be announced but will include Summerfest general admission June 29.
This is the third American Family Insurance Amphitheater concert announced for Summerfest 2019. Jason Aldean and Kane Brown will be there June 28, and Ozzy Osbourne and Megadeth will perform there July 4, as part of Osbourne’s farewell tour. Tickets for both shows are on sale now.
The 2019 Big Gig will run through July 7, and will be closed on July 1.